


Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Because the Stars were There

by Blackreach



Category: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon
Genre: Action/Adventure, Friendship, Gen, Legends, Mystery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:47:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25631527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blackreach/pseuds/Blackreach
Summary: Flick the Vibrava ventures out from his desert home in a search of adventure. In a forest ruin, he meets a frightened Natu. Upon learning of a sinister prophecy, Flick brings along the hapless Natu to attempt to become heroes of their own story.
Relationships: Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 5





	1. Starry Eyed

Flick, a young Vibrava, skittered across the nighttime desert sand, heading for his family’s den. The cloudless sky shone with millions of stars, the moon dark and absent. He paused at the entrance of his home, cast one last look up at the sky, and wished with every fiber of his being for a sign to appear to him. The desolate stretch of endless desert unfolded in front of him, to the sides of him, and well beyond the tip of his tail. As the stars glittered coldly, mocking his fading hope, Flick sighed quietly before stepping into the entrance of his den.

His stomach rumbled just as he set his foot down. Narrowing his orange eyes in annoyance, he turned around and dragged himself back out into the open sands. Forgetting to bring buried prey home was something a baby Trapinch would do, not a Vibrava. Even though his evolution into a Vibrava was later than most, Flick liked to think he was just as mature as his siblings. It didn’t matter that he was a different color than them.

Thankfully, he had the foresight to bury his dinner only a few minutes from the den. Halfheartedly buzzing and half-scurrying, Flick made his way across the cooling sand. Despite his want—his need—for adventure away from this desert, he loved the empty land. It would always be his home.

He stopped at the mound of sand that hid his prey, and he tilted his head to look up at the night sky once more.

Surrounded by endless darkness, a single star brightened — and winked at him.

A collection of strong emotions overwhelmed Flick’s thoughts, leaving him stunned as he gawked at that star. It returned to its normal twinkling self, but its message had been received loud and clear. Flick looked down at his covered prey, then at the sky, then toward his den, then back up at the sky. He swallowed, deciding at that very moment that he would eat his dinner as planned, then follow that star’s sign.

Flick dug the Sandshrew out of the sand, spit up his stomach acid to dissolve his prey, and feasted happily, his mind on his new adventure.

Shifting sand over the remaining parts of the Sandshrew, Flick inhaled the sandy, dry air. He knew every direction of this desert; he knew where his home was, where the nearest water hole was, and the way he needed to travel to find an interesting beginning to his journey. As he could not fly very well yet, the ocean was out of the question, plus it was the farthest area. Coincidentally, the closest area was the forest, which happened to be the most exciting place to begin. His family had always told him to stay away from the forest, since there was no sand to hide them. Flick had always thought that was a weird reason, since, normally, Vibrava and Flygon were green; therefore, they could blend in with the leaves and green trees much better than he could. He was an oddly colored orange Vibrava; as a little Trapinch, he had been a striking green. His life had been in danger more than once as he stood out in the sands. Once he finally evolved, he blended in with the brown and orange sands much better than his family. He was excited to see what his colors would be when he would evolve.

Pushing out the unimportant thoughts of his family, Flick began his long trek towards the forest. He had spent most of the day sleeping under the sand, completely bored out of his mind. He estimated at least the entire night's walk until he would even see the forest. The desert started to quickly cool down around him, so he folded his wings tightly onto his back and sunk himself halfway into the sand and slithered along the desert just like he had seen Sandshrews do when they attempted to outrun him. He had perfected this method of travel as he typically wandered around at night when his family was asleep, and the moon cooled the desert.

Nothing disturbed his journey. A few desert Pokémon appeared and disappeared into the distance, too far away for him to see who they were. He passed a small pack of Sandiles, but they were too busy pouncing on a helpless Trapinch to care about him. The Vibrava held no remorse for ignoring the Trapinch, even as it squealed for help into the empty air. If one were to wander around at night, they had to be able to fend for themselves. Flick had to learn that the hard way, but he would never forget that lesson. If it took a deadly battle to ingrain survival into his head, it had to work for others. Some just happened to be killed into of learning. It was the circle of life.

The edge of the forest came into view as the stars dimmed, and the sky began to adopt glittering shades of purple, pink, and red. Flick paused to unearth himself from the sand, his wings humming as he shook the excess sand off him. He decided to hunt, as he needed to eat, and nocturnal prey had started sleepily dragging themselves to their burrows. Within minutes, a Cacturne and her little Cacnea child appeared. He chose to avoid them, as the Cacturne caught his eye and put herself in front of her child, readying her thorns to throw at him. He gave them an awkward nod, but she did not lower her arm.

As he wandered closer to the forest, he saw a collection of bug Pokémon completely oblivious to the danger in the desert nearby. He buzzed his wings carefully to test their reactions. The group didn’t flinch. He changed course and hid himself halfway in the sand, slowing his steps as he inched closer. The sand began to intertwine with the grass and hard dirt of the forest. The Vibrava hoped that he could slither out without seeming dangerous. He carefully pulled himself out of the sand, watching the little group play. He immediately picked up his speed as he ran towards the group, vibrating his wings violently. His feet skimmed at the ground awkwardly as he lifted himself up slightly into the air. The two Caterpie of the group fainted instantly. The four Wurmple and Weedle scrambled away into the safety of the trees. Flick calmed his wings and put his feet back on the ground, approaching his prey. The Caterpie were small, but they were gooey and tastier than he was expecting. After a lifetime of hard-shelled desert prey, the new, adventurous taste of Caterpie was a welcome surprise. Satisfied and eager to take in his surroundings, the Vibrava ducked into the lush foliage of the forest without a backwards glance towards his home. There were so many colors in this world.

He chose to rest in the shade of a giant tree. He had no idea what dangers the forest had in store, so he pressed himself up to the trunk to blend in, covering himself with leaves as a caution. His orange coloring may have been perfect for the desert, but he stood out in the greenness of the forest. The cold dampness of the earth was a slight shock. The soggy mud was an odd texture against his body, and he couldn’t help but think back to the dry sands that easily shifted with his movements. The wet forest floor resisted his motions, and the sticky mud refused to be wiped off completely. However, this was all part of his new adventure, and he knew he would learn to accept the forest as it was. The humidity of the forest floor made him a tad bit sleepier than he was expecting — it was that, or he was just tired from not sleeping all night. Either way, he closed his eyes and drifted off.

Flick flinched at a screech from a bird Pokémon, waking from his doze. The sun was halfway in the sky, but he barely felt its heat down in the forest floor. Figuring he had slept enough and eager to start his journey, he shook the leaves off him and stretched, vibrating his wings. Congealed mud tacked wet leaves down onto the fragile flesh of his wings. He buzzed them with enough force that a Starly and a few Weedle landed a few feet from him with a thud. He wasn’t hungry, so he finished cleaning himself of what leaves and mud he could before choosing a random direction to travel.

A half-day of traveling brought Flick upon a break in the dense forest. An old stone ruin blanketed in gnarled vines was the type of interesting sight the Vibrava had been looking for. Even though the ruin was rather small, it was still fairly intact—unlike the larger desert ruins which were usually eroded by the winds and sands. Despite the disappointing size, Flick was excited to explore it. Sundown was near, however, so the young Vibrava nestled himself into one of the dark, dry corners to sleep. He wanted to have a fresh start when he explored the ruins. He hoped there would be another one nearby. The forest was a refreshing change, but it was uniform like the desert—nothing but leaves and greenery everywhere without a break in the scenery.

When Flick awoke, the forest was still dark. The sky was transforming into its young pinks and reds, and there were actual thick, rolling clouds in the sky. He watched the clouds move slowly across the lights with a sense of childlike awe. He had seen desert clouds before, but there was something different about the sky when viewed from the forest.

A rustling sound and a small moment to his left snapped him out of his trance. A Natu perched on one of the stone pillars, frozen. He stared at Flick with unblinking eyes. Flick stared back. He wasn’t sure what to do. His mother had told him stories of how powerful Natus could be, but they were also easily spooked. They could see the future, too, he recalled. He shifted his foot to get into a more comfortable position for the stare-down, but the little movement made the Natu leap upwards in fear. The Natu missed the tree branch Flick assumed he was aiming for, instead landing on the ground ungracefully. The Natu froze again, keeping eye contact with the Vibrava.

Flick decided to test the waters. He opened his mouth to speak, but all it did was earn him a violent but unblinking flinch from the Natu. He closed his mouth silently with a faint hesitation. Deciding to see where this would end up, Flick slowly and methodically shifted himself to a more comfortable position. The Natu watched without so much as a muscle twitch.

Even when the sun reached its peak in the sky, the Natu had not moved a muscle. Flick was quite uncomfortable from not moving for a long time, and he was starting to feel hungry. He was hesitant to take on the Natu, even though he appeared to be easy prey. The Natu may be skittish, fearful, and unable to fly, but Flick had a feeling that the Natu was much more powerful than he appeared. Flick also couldn’t fly well, and he was certainly no easy prey. Since the Natu appeared not to have anywhere else to go, the hopeful Vibrava assumed that he knew about these ruins and would have some background on them. If the Natu was willing to talk and didn’t try to attack, of course.  
Flick made the first move. Trying to appear as nonthreatening as possible, he kept eye contact with the Natu and shifted slowly backwards towards a berry-filled tree. He had no idea if this Natu even liked berries, but he figured the Natu didn’t eat meat. Plus, if Flick killed a Pokémon in front of him, the Natu had every reason to attack or flee. He didn’t want either of those outcomes. Food was always the way to someone’s heart, after all. Or at least it was a good way to loosen their mouth.

Reaching the tree, Flick broke eye contact to silently gesture with his eyes at the berries. The Natu gave no reaction whatsoever. Flick slowly reached up a twiggy leg, then another, then another, then he slowly pushed himself up to reach the berries. He grabbed three of them, one of each color, and let himself fall onto the ground. Thankfully, the Natu did not move a muscle, but his eyes did move to the berries questioningly. Flick took a few steps towards the Natu before rethinking his possible threatening moments. He stopped and gently rolled a blue berry towards the Natu. A faint look of disgust flashed across the Natu’s eyes, so Flick rolled the yellow berry towards him instead. The Vibrava took a bite out of the pink berry he kept for himself, not expecting such a sweet taste from it. He scrunched up his face but continued eating it. The shock of sweetness became more bearable with each bite. He kept half an eye on the Natu as the bird hopped closer to the berry, freezing with every jump. He chose the yellow berry and pecked at it one bite at a time, constantly freezing to stare at Flick.

They finished their berries in silence. Flick had picked up the blue berry and sat away from the Natu to eat it, and the Natu had only flinched slightly when the Vibrava had moved towards him. Flick enjoyed the odd yet distinct taste of the blue berry much more than the shockingly sweet pink berry. The two Pokémon stared at each other, but Flick felt as if a weight had been lifted from between them. Their staring was no longer full of fearful tension, but a light uncertainty. Food was always the way to someone’s heart.

As the day began to morph into dusk, Flick made up his mind to say something.

“My name’s Flick,” he offered in a quiet voice.

The Natu blinked for the first time since they'd met. The silence stretched on long enough that Flick wondered if the Natu was going to jump away, and the blink was just a fluke.

“I am Xanthos.” The Natu paused for a moment, then blinked again. “Thank you for the berry.”

Flick knew they were off to a wonderful start. The interesting part of his journey was just beginning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Beta-ed by Oldflowers.](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oldflowers)


	2. Trial

Flick and Xanthos' introductions were the only words spoken between each other for the next two sunrises. Xanthos barely moved and only hopped between a stone pillar and the ground with an eye always on Flick. Meanwhile, Flick always kept the Natu in sight. Even if Xanthos could talk and obviously wasn’t a small prey Pokémon, he didn’t want to risk getting attacked out of fear. Not that the little Pokémon could win in a fight against him, anyway.

Flick explored the entirety of the ruins within a day and a half. Most of the ruins were just collapsed piles of mossy boulders which were unnaturally carved stone that had the appearance of cracked, collapsed walls and ceilings. There was absolutely nothing to show which room was what, and there wasn’t even enough of a structure to show there were sectioned off areas. There were quite a few wonderful, flat sunning rocks that Flick took advantage of. Even if he didn’t quite miss the desert, the sun beating down on his body was a lovely feeling.

The ruins, overall, were a disappointment. He did find a few Joltik underneath the stones, and they were shockingly delightful snacks. The moss attached to their still bodies, however… not so much. The forest prey was deliciously juicy, as were the berries, but the forest plants and leaves were bitter and disgusting. The desert cacti and their fruits were always a tasty snack in the heat of sunlight and sometimes much better than the desert prey. Forest plants could never compare to it, but the prey was certainly better fed. The berries were delightful, too, and they were certainly winning over Xanthos’ trust. Every time Flick climbed a tree to pick the berries, he would roll a few over to the Natu. In time, he was able to walk up directly in front of Xanthos and drop the berry right at his feet. That grew to them eating next to each other. Flick dared to even believe they trusted each other.

One midday, Flick was stacking the smaller collapsed stones on top of each other. He didn’t feel like adventuring everywhere, and the ruins had ended up being rather disheartening. There didn’t quite appear to be anything of interest; it almost seemed as if the ruins had been a small home for someone. The inhabitants had obviously been gone for a long time. He was not quite good at digging through anything stronger than sand, so he hoped that he wasn't missing anything underneath. Unless…

Flick glanced over at Xanthos who was busy simply staring off into the distance, lost in thought, as usual. He purposefully knocked over the stacked stones with his wings as he stretched, jolting the Natu back into the present. He wandered over to Xanthos once they made eye contact. Flick laid on his belly in a patch of sunlight near him.

“Anything interesting about these ruins?” he asked, breaking the silence between them. His orange wings vibrated for a heartbeat out of uncertainty.

The Natu blinked for the third time since their paths had crossed. The silence stretched on for long enough that Flick was able to halfheartedly mull over his thoughts as he waited for the Natu to speak.

Xanthos shifted his feet before speaking. “The ones who lived here before tainted the ground with evil.”

Flick pushed the front of his body up as his interest piqued. “Did you see what they did?”

Xanthos stared at the Vibrava with a longer-than-necessary silence. “Pieces.”

Flick frowned slightly at the boring response. “Are you—are you going to tell me anything else? What did you see?”

The unblinking Natu twitched his tiny yellow and red wings. He stayed silent. Flick, ignoring his annoyance as it wasn’t going to get him anywhere, decided to switch tactics since Xanthos refused to say anything more.

“Why aren’t there any Pokémon nearby?” he asked. The Joltik and the other prey Pokémon he had eaten didn’t count. They were obviously starved and already dying, despite being juicer than desert prey.

The Natu’s petite toes flexed and gripped onto the pillar. He made direct eye contact and blinked once.

“I frighten them,” he spoke clearly without a stutter.

Flick gave him an incredulous look. “You? You’re so small. I could eat you.”

Xanthos’ eyes flashed in annoyance. Flick relished in that small show of emotion from the otherwise dead-eyed Natu. They stared at each other for longer than Flick deemed necessary until Xanthos opened his beak again.

“Would you like to test our strengths…?” he offered, a faint, unidentifiable emotion dripping from each word.

Flick hopped onto all four legs. The battle offer was random, but he loved to show off his strength whenever he could. He shuffled backwards, tail swinging with excitement and wings fully extended. “Of course!”

The Vibrava knew the layout of the ruins. What he had explored was nothing more extraordinary than any random pile of rocks located anywhere else. These just happened to look less natural. The clearing was not entirely that big, either. He assumed that neither one of them would venture out beyond the clearing to do their battle. Deeper in the forest, obviously, were prey Pokémon. Despite Xanthos’ claims, as well as Flick’s trust in his own strength, some prey Pokémon could kill even the strongest regular Pokémon out there.

Prey Pokémon had no thoughts or normal feelings; they only wanted to eat, sleep, and mate. If someone were to attack a prey Pokémon, it would be a fight to the death. Sometimes prey Pokémon would just attack randomly, even if someone were not instigating a battle. Xanthos and Flick were not prey Pokémon since they both had the ability to think, feel, and talk. Talking was another major difference between regular Pokémon and prey. Flick had heard stories of talking prey Pokémon, but he had yet to encounter one.  
Xanthos looked the Vibrava up and down as Flick moved backwards. The Natu flapped his wings once and flexed his tiny claws. He blinked one time.

“Are you sure you want to battle me?” he wondered softly in a patronizing tone, even though he had been the one to initiate the battle. “I will see your movements before you even make them.”

Flick lashed his tail, uncaring. “Try me, smalls.”

Xanthos immediately launched himself at Flick. The Vibrava had half-expected an instant attack, but he had misjudged the Natu’s speed. Xanthos’ beak slammed directly into Flick’s back. Hissing in pain, Flick slapped his wings upright. Xanthos couldn’t get a grip to leap away. Flick bucked, sending Xanthos over his head. When the Natu was in range, the Vibrava fastened onto one of the small wings with his fangs. He could taste rich blood.

Abruptly, Flick’s mouth clamped shut in the air. Xanthos suddenly appeared on the pillar, breathing heavily. A tickle of blood ran down his meager wing, and his eyes held an angry pain. The Vibrava gritted his teeth as he grinned up at the Natu. He grabbed a handful of mud and leaves from the ground, hurling it at Xanthos; however, the Natu leapt nimbly out of the way onto a shorter pile of rocks. Flick didn’t like that at all. He allowed a powerful energy to build up inside him as he scrambled out of the way of a dark crimson beam shot out of Xanthos’ eyes. His right wing was caught in the beam, and it burned; he growled in anger, opened his mouth, and shot a green and yellow beam directly at the Natu. Xanthos tried to leap out of the way, but his foot hit the attack and caused him to spin out and faceplant onto the mud Flick had thrown earlier.

Flick opened his mouth to release Dragon Breath again. He saw the injured Natu watch him meekly, not bothering to even attempt to crawl out of the way. He closed his mouth with a snap, green and yellow wisps of the canceled attack escaping from the sides of his mouth. He gave himself a once over, decided his injuries were not life threatening, and he limped over to Xanthos. He sat beside him and nudged the Natu with his nose. Xanthos shut his eyes and made a sad, pained chirp.

Flick almost couldn’t believe he had just won. Despite his own display of prowess—which he was quite proud of, especially choosing to hold back once the Natu gave up—he had a feeling that they were more evenly matched than Xanthos made it appear. However, even if there was a possibility that Xanthos purposely allowed him to win, Flick felt good. He loved winning.

He didn’t try to make conversation. He dragged himself over to the berry tree, digging in the mud. He dressed his own wounds with the cool ground, earning himself instant relief. He knew certain fruits had healing properties, so he climbed the tree slowly and carefully. He grabbed the blue and yellow berries, since there were not many pink berries left. Instincts also told him that the pink berries would not help in this situation. He considered grabbing some mud for Xanthos, but the Natu was not a ground type, so the mud and leaves might have done him more harm than good.

He brought the berries back over to the Natu and placed them in front of his beak. Flick felt instantly better, physically, as he devoured two yellow and blue berries. Xanthos, however, kept his eyes shut, not bothering to sit himself upright. Flick nudged a yellow berry closer until it was touching Xanthos’ beak. The Natu slowly opened his eyes and pathetically licked the berry.

The Vibrava was starting to get slightly annoyed at the sad display of weakness. He decided to leave the Natu up to his own fate… mostly. Leaving two yellow berries for Xanthos, Flick ate the last two blue berries and climbed to the highest part of the ruins that was comfortable enough for him to lay down on. Unfortunately, it happened to be in the shade, but Flick was tired enough to not care too much. He curled up with one sleepy eye open to watch Xanthos. The Natu managed to roll himself back onto his feet, but that looked like an awkward and painful position. Flick shut his eyes when Xanthos was able to maneuver himself into the shade of the ruins and was out of Flick’s line of sight. He hoped—no, simply wondered—if Xanthos managed to eat or, at least, bring the berries with him to his hiding spot.

Flick slept through the night and woke up only when the sun was nearly halfway in the sky. He blinked the sleep from his eyes and yawned, stretching. His wounds were only a faint ache. He vibrated his wings to get the dry mud off. He never much liked having anything weighing his wings down.

Gliding from the pile of rocks with only a slight discomfort, he landed near the berry tree and gathered a blue berry he had accidentally knocked free yesterday. Finishing the delicious fruit, he casually wandered over to where he had seen Xanthos last. However, neither the Natu nor the berries were there. He could tell where Xanthos had stayed, as there was a spot of dried blood, the remains of a berry stem, and a disturbed patch of used ground. He stuck his head into the makeshift den to look around, but he shuffled backwards when nothing of importance jumped out at him.

Flick surprised himself by feeling a little bit lost and lonely when he explored the clearing for any signs of the Natu. Xanthos had been his constant, albeit silent, companion for nearly his entire short adventure. Even if he loathed to admit it, he had a little bit of fondness towards Xanthos, especially after battling together. The Vibrava wasn’t sure what to do. It was possible that if he left to look for Xanthos, the Natu would come back, see Flick wasn’t around, and leave. If he stayed, it was possible that Xanthos could have been mistake for an injured prey Pokémon and dragged off somewhere to be eaten and, in turn, needed to be rescued. Flick dragged his foot through the mud as he mulled over his options.

A rustling to his left jerked him back into the present. To his relief—which he hated and squashed down immediately—Xanthos hopped out from the bushes with a berry-stained beak. The Natu gave Flick a faintly puzzled glance as he hopped over to the top of his pillar. He wiped his beak on the stones to get rid of the berry juice. Flick watched without a sound, debating on what to say. He knew if he asked where the Natu had been, he would probably get silence or, at best, a retort. He decided to try, anyway. He deserved an answer, particularly since he did win the battle.

“Where did you go?” he asked, appearing unconcerned as he crunched leaves under his feet so he wouldn’t have to look the Natu in the eyes. “I thought you had died and gotten eaten.”

The silence, which Flick now expected, dragged on for a heartbeat faster than it used to. “I healed myself,” Xanthos answered.

Flick’s wings twitched in surprise, but he tried to keep his cool. He briefly wondered why Xanthos hadn’t tried to heal him. He glanced up at the Natu. “That’s, uh, good. Sorry about hurting you so badly, though. I wasn’t holding back. I should’ve.”

Xanthos blinked once and let out a light chuckle. “I held back.”

Flick narrowed his eyes. “It certainly didn’t feel like it. I completely would’ve killed you.”

“Unlikely.”

“Likely.”

Xanthos fell silent, not bothering to try and prove his claim. They both still ached from their battle. There was no point trying to physically fight while still healing. Flick soon got restless with the silence between them and decided to take his boredom out on some rocks. Once he'd grown bored of testing which rocks could fit in his mouth, he changed to stacking the stones on top of one another before blasting Mud Shots at the unstable towers. He ambled around the ruins looking for any Joltik he might have missed. Once he became bored with his shenanigans, the Vibrava decided to take a nap. However, just as he got comfortable and was about to close his eyes, Xanthos hopped down next to him. Flick kept one eye open out of curiosity and semi-respect. The Natu stayed silent, staring at him as if he was trying to gauge the situation.

“What?” Flick yawned. He didn’t offer any other comment. If Xanthos was simply going to stare at him, he was going to continue with his napping plan. He didn’t fear the little Pokémon.

Xanthos blinked once before speaking, as was his pattern. “Why did you travel here?”

Flick opened both his eyes and sat up. “I was bored in the desert and wanted to go on a journey, but I needed a sign to make it possible,” he explained, eager to talk about his journey. “The stars told me, so—”

“Stars?” Xanthos interrupted, throwing off Flick’s train of thought.

He gave the Natu a look. “Yeah…? I follow the stars.”

Xanthos’ blank expression changed to a clear look of nervousness. “Mm…”

Flick sighed louder than necessary. “Can we elaborate here or something? You asked me a question, and I was in the middle of answering it before you interrupted. I should get more than a grunt from you. I beat you in battle, too.”

Xanthos stayed silent for a few moments. “I had a vision involving stars,” he half-whispered as if he were afraid of someone overhearing.

Another pitiful answer. “Like a prophecy? Or were you hit on the head too hard?”

Another small silence and a blink. “Prophecy.”

“You going to tell me anything else or will I have to ask something after every sentence? C’mon, little guy, just tell me. Promise I won’t kill you.”

“Not that you could,” Xanthos bit back without any hesitation. His lack of delay startled both Pokémon.

Flick gave his companion a slight grin as the Natu swiftly regained his stoic composure. “We’ll battle again one day. Now, your prophecy. What’s it about?”

Flick had a feeling that Xanthos purposefully let the silence stretch between them to make up for his hasty retort. However, neither one broke eye contact nor flinched. Xanthos’ eyes grew marginally narrower as time went on. He finally broke eye contact, earning surprised blinks from Flick, and cast his gaze downward.

“All I saw—” he started, pausing to regain his composure that slipped ever so slightly. He brought his gaze back up and locked eyes with Flick with an intensity the Vibrava wasn’t prepared for. It made him take a small step back. “All I saw were stars shattering as if—as if they were being slaughtered. That sense of hopelessness and fear…” A distant look appeared in Xanthos’ eyes as he trailed off. The explanation felt incomplete as if he was holding something back. Despite that, Flick felt exhilaration warm his chest. His energy buzzed on a high from excitement.

He managed to keep his mouth shut for a heartbeat before blurting out, “That sounds like an adventure in the making!”

The utter look of disgust and uncertainty in the Natu’s eyes almost made Flick bite back his next words, but the vigorous excitement exploded out of his mouth. He vibrated with anticipation.

“I’ve always wanted to be a hero!” he exclaimed, his wings buzzing so violently that his feet hovered off the ground. He made himself move around the clearing as he spoke enthusiastically, his words nearly tumbling over one another. “The stars are guiding my path again! We need to find out what your vision means. Little bird, this will be the adventure of a lifetime! We’ll be heroes!”

As Flick turned back around to face Xanthos, the Natu was shaking his head. “No,” he stated as a fact. “I will not chase this vision.”

Flick lowered himself onto the ground. “Yes, you will. We both will. I’ll go with you. We’ll be heroes.”

Xanthos spread his little feet and anchored himself onto the stone. “I will not chase this vision,” he repeated.

Flick sauntered up to him, glaring down at the smaller Pokémon. “Why not? You said these ruins hold evil. I doubt you’ve left this area in your whole life. Are you scared?” he taunted.

Xanthos, to his credit, glared right back at him. There was a hesitation before he bit back. “I will not chase this vision.”

Flick impulsively bopped the tiny Pokémon on the head with more force than necessary. Xanthos, not expecting that, loosened his grip. The Vibrava took full advantage of the baffled Natu. He pushed him onto his side and grabbed him with one spiny leg. Xanthos struggled pathetically. It seemed like a halfhearted attempt. Flick couldn’t even fly properly, and Xanthos had to know that. Even with the most frantic buzzing, they barely reached the end of the clearing before Flick steadied his wings and set them both down ungracefully. Xanthos hopped out of his grasp and pecked at a few shoots near the edge of the tree before preening himself as if trying to smooth his ruffled feathers from being touched.

Flick watched for a few heartbeats before speaking. “Let’s go.”

Xanthos sighed, tilted his head towards the sky, and shut his eyes. His feeble wings relaxed slightly. “I will not—”

Flick scoffed and cut off Xanthos. “I don’t care. Let’s go.”

The Natu opened his eyes and accepted his fate with surprising ease. “I warned you.”

Flick picked a random direction but paused before he started walking, glancing back at Xanthos. “Why did you agree so suddenly?”

Xanthos stared back at him without a word. There was nothing in his eyes that Flick could read. Flick rolled his eyes to show his own annoyance.

“I hope my death haunts all your visions,” he told Xanthos, not really meaning it.

He could beat Xanthos in a battle if it really came down to it—or so he liked to believe. He still didn’t understand why Xanthos challenged him only to lose then claim he was holding back. He knew Natus could see the future, so it just didn’t make any sense. He wondered if Xanthos was playing a long con. Whatever it was, Flick was just happy to have a companion on his journey. He hated admitting he enjoyed other people’s company.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pre-read by the two Kikis and [beta-ed by Oldflowers.](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oldflowers)


	3. Flavor

As they traveled deeper into the forest, the undergrowth became thicker and thicker. Thorns sharpened, vines lashed out with more strength, and Flick’s patience thinned. Some bitter-tasting vines took more than one Bite attack to break through, and it was starting to take more and more effort to untangle himself from the vegetation. Xanthos, much to Flick’s frustration, hopped nimbly around the underbrush. Even when the Natu landed on a bush or undergrowth for longer than a couple seconds, the plants rarely dipped under his weight. Natu were built to live in the forest. Vibrava were not.

Flick had enough when he tripped over a vine that magically wrapped itself around his back leg and the bottom of his tail. When thrashing around forcefully didn’t gain him any ground and made it worse, he stilled and inhaled then exhaled slowly. He purposefully waited until Xanthos turned around from up ahead. He wanted to showcase his strength.

His tail began to glow green and the energy surrounding it easily cut through the restricting vines. With his tail now free, he slashed at everything to untangle himself. Shredded bark and vines and leaves fell around him as his Dragon Tail easily sliced through the feeble foliage. He mostly succeeded in untangling himself, but he still had a few stubborn vines wrapped around his legs. A few bites and yanks took care of the remaining plants since his tail was just not that flexible. The once-lush forest in his immediate surroundings was now a mass of slashed greens scattered on the ground. He shook the green remains off of his back and wings.

Xanthos gave no reaction, which was expected but also faintly disappointing. He simply turned around and continued following whatever unseen path was ahead of them. Flick couldn’t tell if it was some sort of psychic mumbo-jumbo he was following, or if Xanthos had randomly picked a direction. In the beginning, Flick had been the leader, but he had started getting tangled in the vines, so Xanthos had taken over—much to Flick’s irritation. He chose not to say anything, as it would make him look ridiculous for arguing while tangled in these bothersome vines.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flash of something not green. It had been days since he had eaten anything other than berries. He missed the taste of melted flesh, the thrill of a chase, the vibrations of his wings closing in on prey. He stopped eating prey Pokémon to show Xanthos he was not a danger, and he had stuck to that nonthreatening way for long enough. Since they were adventuring together, Flick assumed it would be fine if he ate something other than fruit. He missed catching his prey and the thrill of a short hunt.

“X-man!” Flick called. “I’m going to look for some food.”

Xanthos paused on a tree branch and glanced backwards without so much as a shrug. Flick, not really wanting to wait, took that as a sign that the Natu heard him. He ducked to the side of whatever path Xanthos was following. Common sense told him not to travel too far off, but he was hungry. If becoming lost led to some delicious treats, so be it. He could also just hack his way back to the Natu. He had a feeling that Xanthos didn’t enjoy him injuring the forest—since he hopped so delicately around everything—so he had a guarantee if worst came to worst.

Flick wasn’t accustomed to hunting in the forest. The noises in the forest didn’t allow him to concentrate well. The desert’s songs were nothing but winds blowing over sand, so all the extra sounds distracted him. The foliage obscuring his vision was also an annoyance. He was way out of his element, but he refused to let that stop him. He decided it would be a good practice of observation. He already had the sit-and-wait down, but his typical Bug Buzz would be difficult in these conditions. The trees could dampen the vibrations, leaving his prey confused and uncomfortable but still very much awake. That would not be ideal since the alarm would be raised.

He carefully picked his way through the places where the vines and underbrush were not as overgrown. It almost seemed like a pathway just slightly out of use. He paused frequently, looking for anything non-leaflike. Instead of seeing anything, a weird sound caught his attention, and he stilled. It sounded like an odd form of something clacking against hollow wood. He swiveled his head left and right, trying to find the source of the sound. The forest went quiet again—quiet as in the typical chattering of bird Pokémon and little noises of bug Pokémon. Flick didn’t move. The clacking wood sound came again, closer this time and to his right. The leaves rustled nearby unnaturally. It was now or never.

Flick didn’t take into consideration the space he would need to unfurl his wings. Just as Bug Buzz began to reach its peak, he hit a low branch and splintered it with a snap. Hissing in frustration, he pressed his wings tightly against his body and shot off towards the noise, keeping his body low to the ground. He stumbled only once since the pathway was pretty much clear of any hanging debris and no roots stuck out haphazardly. When leaves rustled violently as he charged along, he skidded to a stop, swung his body so he was facing the leaves, spread out his wings yet again, and launched another Bug Buzz attack. He destroyed a few bushes in his way, leaving broken sticks and shredded leaves in his vicinity. He could taste the rich, delicious, soon-to-be-melted meat. He could feel stomach acid at the back of his throat.

He stopped when he could only hear his attack, carefully folding his wings. He didn’t take in his surroundings before stepping through the fractured undergrowth towards where he thought his prey was. Thankfully, it only took a few minutes of searching before he uncovered two fainted Kricketot.

Overjoyed by his luck, Flick spit up acid on both without hesitation. Flick’s glee was absolutely incredible and nearly overwhelmed him; he was almost vibrating with pleasure. One of the preys opened an eye and let out a weak, pitiful screech of pain as the acid ate into the exoskeleton. He barely waited for them to dissolve before he feasted. A tiny foot tapped the side of his cheek in a feeble display of protest. Sinking his fangs into a half-dissolved body, rich flavors unlike any other filled his mouth. Oh, how he missed this. He allowed the gooeyness to melt in his mouth for a couple of heartbeats, his eyes closed in pure bliss. These two were much better fed than the little prey he had in the ruins. Juicy and delightful.

He laid next to the softening remains of the bug Pokémon for a little while, allowing that delicious meal to settle. Never again would he go more than a day without prey.

“Vibrava!” came Xanthos’ exasperated squawk from somewhere far away from his blissfulness.

Flick lifted his head over the ferns. He scanned the emerald green forest, looking for something just a tad bit lighter than the surroundings. He grunted and stretched, yawning.

“My name is Flick, thank you!” he called back.

Xanthos popped up from a nearby tree branch, his beady little eyes narrowed in irritation as he glared down at the unperturbed Vibrava. “You were sleeping at the entrance of a mystery dungeon. You are ridiculous.”

Flick wondered if the teeny Natu thought he looked tough with his feathers fluffed, glaring down at him from that tree. He glanced behind his tail at the so-called mystery dungeon entrance. There was nothing that made it stand out from anything in the forest. Perhaps it was a shade bit darker from the rest, and maybe there was a bit more of a path that led to a sort of specific opening. Other than that, there was no usual odd, warping, invisible wall. The desert mystery dungeons always had that shimmering, invisible wall that reflected faint rainbow colors when the sun hit it just right. Here, where the sun was dappled and filtered, that wall was indiscernible from everything else.

Xanthos hopped down to the ground beside Flick, facing the mystery dungeon. The Vibrava turned around and strutted towards the entrance. The Natu hesitated briefly before quickly fluttering after him, his beak nearly touching the tip of Flick’s tail. As they passed through the entrance, an odd, unpleasant feeling washed over his entire being. Flick shivered and shuddered lightly from his antenna all the way down to the tip of his tail. He had only been in a few mystery dungeons out in the desert, and he still could not get used to the faintly repulsive feeling of walking into a different dimension. The feeling of intruding onto someone else’s territory was always more powerful when he entered a mystery dungeon.

They walked on in silence for a small while down the winding pathways, undisturbed by talking or random prey attacks. Flick took this peaceful time to gaze at his surroundings. The light filtering through the leaves in gorgeous dapples onto the dense, brown dirt path still astounded Flick. The beauty of this world was much different from the beauty of the desert.

He glanced to his side where Xanthos hopped. The Natu had not left the ground nor Flick’s side since they had entered; during their journey through the rest of the forest, the Natu had no problem using the tree branches as his pathway and would often leave Flick’s line of sight.

“Are you afraid?” he asked, unwisely.

Xanthos halted in this path, giving Flick another one of his feeble glares. The Vibrava paused for a heartbeat, expecting his companion to say something in retaliation. When Xanthos offered nothing and was rooted to the ground, Flick simply blinked and continued down the path. He heard Xanthos start to follow him after a couple steps.

Their silent, strained peacefulness was interrupted by a Carnivine’s snapping jaws swinging down from a branch above them. Grabbing a mouthful of dirt, Flick flung it directly into the Pokémon’s gaping mouth as he slithered backwards to safety. Xanthos, following Flick’s lead, launched himself at the Carnivine’s head, landing a direct hit with his beak between the grass type’s eyes. Recoiling with a sweet-smelling hiss as Xanthos landed right below him, the Carnivine let go of the branch and shot down towards Flick. The Vibrava’s tail glowed with green scales. He whipped around and smacked the attacking Pokémon directly in the chest with the powerful attack, slicing the Carnivine messily in two. The sweet stench erupted as the two body parts hit a nearby tree, making the two of them gag.

Flick hurried towards Xanthos, nudging him onto his neck with his nose. The Natu went with the motion, settling between the Vibrava’s orange wing blades. Flick scurried out of the disgustingly sweet cloud. When they could finally breath without choking, the Vibrava slowed to a stop and allowed Xanthos to hop back onto the ground, resisting the urge to shake him off impolitely. When his small talons finally touched the ground, Xanthos shook out his feathers, releasing a slight sweet smell. He looked like a green ball of fluff with teeny tiny wings that could never lift him off the ground. Flick let a small huff of amusement escape.

Their moment of near-quiet was interrupted yet again when a Thwackey and another Carnivine exploded out of the undergrowth from both sides. Vines from Carnivine snapped out at Xanthos, but the Natu leapt out of the way just as the vines smacked the ground, leaving scars in the earth where he had once stood. The Thwackey’s stretched out his arm towards Flick in mid-leap, sharp green leaves shooting directly towards the Vibrava. Since he didn’t see it coming, Flick was unable to move out of the way and took the brunt of the hit. Sharpened leaves dug in his spiny forearms and his chest, sliced his wing membranes, and scratched his protective eye covering. They dug in—deep—and his yellowish-red blood welled up around the openings. He gritted his teeth in pain as he slithered out of the way of the Thwackey’s landing.

There was a taunting glint in the attacking Pokémon’s golden eyes that Flick didn’t like. He centered his body weight over his four legs and readied energy in his clamped jaws, little wisps of green and yellow escaping as the power built. The Thwackey barely gave himself time to rest as he launched himself towards Flick the second his feet touched the ground. He grabbed a stick from his head in midair, jabbing it towards the Vibrava. Flick waited until the stick was a heartbeat away from touching him. He snapped open his mouth and launched an incredibly bright beam of green and yellow energy, disintegrating the stick, hand, and arm upon impact. The beam engulfed the Thwackey, peeling away at fur and flesh before thrusting him away with an incredible amount of force. The mangled body hit a tree trunk with a dull splat. Flick snapped his jaws shut, ending the attack. The Thwackey was just a mangled mass of shattered bones and melted flesh. The tree had burn marks on the sides. It obviously was the work of a powerful Pokémon. Satisfied with his kill, Flick turned towards Xanthos to help him with his battle.

To his slight astonishment, the Natu was calmly perched on the Carnivine’s dented skull, observing. Flick’s antennas curled in irritation and embarrassment. He wasn’t sure how long Xanthos had been watching, and he hoped it hadn’t been for very long. He shook off some of the leaves on his body and sauntered towards Xanthos, attempting to keep up a façade of control and strength despite the pain from the leaf wounds. This puny bird would not make him look weak.

“Pretty good, eh?” he offered, glancing over at his kill and unfurling his antennas. “I had the disadvantage, and I completely destroyed him. He stood no chance.” He paused for dramatic effect, making sure to look the Carinvine up and down. “You had the type advantage, but you did well.”

Xanthos ruffled his feathers and blinked once. “We won. It does not matter who had a type advantage,” he twittered without any hesitation.

Flick’s tail twitched, but he refused to take the bait. “Let’s go. I ate before we entered, so I’m not hungry. These bodies’ll stink up the place soon enough.” He wasn’t exactly sure about the last part. The forest’s decomposing ways didn’t seem as powerful as the desert’s, but he wasn’t about to find out. Plus, any prey-eating Pokémon in this dungeon would smell their kills. Prey Pokémon trapped in mystery dungeons always acted more savage and hungry, albeit cleverer, than the outside ones.

Xanthos’ eyelids fluttered, but he didn’t fully blink. He opened his beak then closed it, deciding not to grace Flick with his obviously super important words that were too good for the Vibrava’s ears. The Natu plucked out a few vine remnants stuck between his toes and began to preen his wings. Flick pulled out a few remaining leaves in his side. He rolled in the dirt to temporarily stop the bleeding and to make his wings feel better. He often adventured alone into mystery dungeons without any items, so he knew how to work with the nature around him if no useful items were found in time. Even though the forest was completely different from the desert, dry dirt basically worked the same no matter where it was from.

They continued on the winding path without any other major interruptions. A few Weedles and Caterpie wiggled into their line of sight, but they were quickly dispatched by Xanthos. Much to Flick’s surprise, and childish glee, the Natu pecked a few gooey morsels off of two of the Caterpie. He had only seen his companion eat berries, so it was almost a relief to know that he was not against eating prey.

They wandered into a large clearing. Three seeds were scattered haphazardly in the carpet of leaves with a Rowlet pecking at the nearest one. She picked it up in her beak, made eye contact with Flick, crunched the seed, and abruptly disappeared with an unnatural warbling sound. Xanthos didn’t hesitate as he gently hopped over to one of the other seeds. Flick was hesitant to follow as he was unsure about the effect of the seed the Rowlet had eaten. He didn’t want to be attacked by an invisible prey Pokémon. It had happened before.

Xanthos pointed a small talon at the seed nearest to him. “Blinker.” He shifted his claw to the other side which was slightly closer to Flick. “Pure.”

Flick, assuming that the Rowlet had been warped somewhere, grabbed the pure seed with a foreleg and walked awkwardly towards Xanthos on his other three. “If we break this in ha—”

“No,” interrupted Xanthos with a blink.

Flick narrowed his eyes. “How do you know?”

Xanthos looked him up and down, matching his exasperated glare. “Breaking it in half negates the effect,” he sighed. “At best, you would be transported to the end or entrance of the dungeon. At worst, nothing would happen. A game of chance.”

That was the longest sentence Flick had ever heard come out of Xanthos’ beak. He dumbly opened and shut his mouth, unsure of how to respond.

The Natu gently stuffed the blinker seed under his wing, holding it tightly. Flick wasn’t sure what to do with his seed, and he wasn’t about to ask Xanthos for help. Without looking, he prompted tossed it sideways across the clearing. It hit a fern leaf and dropped to the ground with scarcely a sound. The two stared at each other for a few heartbeats in silence.

Xanthos chose to hop towards one of the trails they had not yet walked on. Flick followed with the slightest glance towards the pure seed he had thrown. He wondered if he would regret that decision later. However, it was currently useless, and Flick wasn’t about to hobble through the rest of the dungeon on three legs.

They ended up exiting the mystery dungeon within the half-hour without any other battling incidents or any stumbling upon new items. The faint, abnormal weight on Flick’s shoulder lifted the second they passed through the mysterious, invisible barrier. He inhaled deeply, holding oxygen in his lungs for a heartbeat longer than needed; the air always felt different—freer and lighter—outside the dungeons. It was always an unexpected relief to exit them, no matter how many times it happened.

Xanthos shifted his weight on his feet, and his unhindered wing shuddered; he tightened his hold on the blinker seed. “Complete?”

Flick, in mid-stretch, paused. He finished his stretch, glancing over at the twitchy Natu. “What?”

“We must leave,” he chirped again, sounding vaguely worried.

The Vibrava shook his head to refocus himself. “Okay. Where to?”

Xanthos looked like he was about to respond, but his eyes suddenly went wide with some sort of upsetting emotion, and his beak clicked shut. He froze, staring at Flick yet looking right through him, his expression blanking. The sudden transformation in his demeanor, which had developed in a somewhat relaxed one since they became companions, alarmed Flick.

“What? What is it?” he asked quietly, not sure what level his voice should be at. He wasn’t sure what Xanthos had seen, and he wasn’t sure if it was in a vision or physically nearby, but he needed to be on alert. He wasn’t about to die outside of a mystery dungeon. That only happened to weak Pokémon.

Most prey Pokémon, if they managed to force their way out of a dungeon, never stuck around. Flick had once seen a young-looking prey Pokémon hang around the outside of a desert mystery dungeon only to have been dragged brutally yet promptly into the dungeon. He hoped he wouldn’t have to experience that again. He wasn’t ready to be attacked, either. They had barely any time to rest from getting through a dungeon. It surprisingly always took a fair bit of energy to enter and exit; if caught unaware, one could pass out and be killed.

A noise diagonal from them caught Flick’s attention. Xanthos spun around in place, still rooted in the ground. The Vibrava checked his energy, lashing his tail. If need be, he could still fight. He gritted his teeth and planted his body solidly. They stared at the rustling bush, waiting for the noise to present itself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Beta-ed by Oldflowers.](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oldflowers)


	4. Encounter

An arrogant Charmeleon pushed greenery out of his way as he swaggered towards the duo, tail tip blazing while skillfully avoiding any foliage. The Charmeleon glowered at the two with such fire in his eyes that Flick felt like he was about to be set ablaze. A Riolu and a Goomy followed a heartbeat later, less gracefully and with considerably less self-importance. The Riolu moved to his leader’s left side, crossed his arms, and attempted to match the fire type’s angry stare to a lesser degree. The Goomy completely ruined their tough-guy look with her pitifully apprehensive gaze as she slowly inched beside the Charmeleon’s right side, hanging back just a hair. Flick matched the Charmeleon’s and Riolu’s glare with his own, narrowing his eyes as he chose to meet the Charmeleon’s gaze. The Goomy sought comfort in Xanthos’ blank stare; it didn’t look like she was truly making eye contact, but neither was he.

In a heartbeat, Xanthos leapt onto Flick’s head. Already on hyper-alert for any attacks, Flick reared up on his hind legs on an instinct. The Riolu immediately planted himself in front of the Charmeleon, throwing up his forearms in an x-shape and producing a translucent red barrier that spread out in front of the three Pokémon but not over their heads.

Xanthos used Flick’s momentum to gain some leverage and tossed the blinker seed he had tucked under his wing into the air, jumping up after it and crunching it in his beak. A gray mist-like substance obscured his eyes just as he was shrouded by pale pink aura. The pink aura, mixing with grayness, dripped into the air like floating water molecules and shot over the half-formed red barrier towards the Charmeleon, who immediately reacted by grabbing the Goomy and shoving her into the attack. The mist-like substance disappeared from Xanthos’ eyes just as it hit the Goomy. She let out a gurgling scream at the sudden darkness in her vision.

The Charmeleon cast her aside roughly. She didn’t hold her solid shape when she hit the ground—splattering into an unappealing mound of mucus and goo with a plop, her pathetic, misty eyes leaking tears. The Riolu opened his mouth and screeched harshly as he advanced towards the duo, the white bumps on his arms glowing a whitish-gray as they extended into sharp claws. Flick, finally recovering from his initial surprise, vibrated his wings with increasing intensity, launching high-powered and extremely loud sonic vibrations at the Riolu. The Sonic Booms hit him square in the chest all four times, knocking him back into the Charmeleon.

The flame on the Charmeleon’s tail, as well as the anger in his eyes, had tripled in size during the rapid battle. He caught the flailing Riolu with expert ease, tossed him aside, inhaled, and exhaled thick, black-gray smoke that covered the entire area in a few heartbeats. Where he'd been thrown, the Riolu managed to catch himself from falling into the semi-shaped Goomy, finding his balance as the black smoke rolled over the battlefield.

Xanthos, who had been in midair during the entire battle, landed directly on Flick’s back between his wing blades. The Natu froze with his teeny claws pinpricking Flick’s back. Unable to see, the Vibrava canceled his next attempt to attack.

“We didn’t want to fight,” came the Charmeleon’s hissing breath. Only small bursts of orange-red flame could be seen in through the still-billowing Smokescreen. Flick assumed the fire was leaking out of the Charmeleon’s mouth as he spoke.

“Then why did you attack us?” Flick shot back.

Another flicker of flame broke through the smoke, closer this time. “You attacked us first, you stick-legged excuse for a dragon.”

Flick vibrated his wings briefly to test to see how quickly he would be able to disperse the Smokescreen. All it did was swirl around him like a smokey blanket, unaffected. He was rightly ticked off once he discovered he had to put effort into escaping the smoke.

Just as he reached for whatever energy he had left to channel into an attack, the Charmeleon’s voice came again, right in front of them.

“Can’t we just talk?” the Charmeleon half-growled and half-hissed. His faintly-heated breath washed over Flick’s nose even from this distance. “We don't wanna fight.”

Something in his sickly-sweet words tickled the back of Flick’s mind. It almost sounded a bit friendly or approachable, even if his breath did smell like sour bones and black smoke. Flick figured there wasn’t any reason not to give them a chance.

“Sure,” he breathed back, purposely exhaling more than he needed to.

Something foreign and slimy and vaguely warm touched the back of his mind. He subconsciously shut it out like he used to back in the desert when his Vulpix friend would test her psychic energy on him. He was more focused on the real danger in front of him; granted, it was Xanthos who had made the first move and caused the battle. The Natu wouldn’t attack him, though. Not anymore.

He heard a body shift farther away from him, accompanied by a few strong inhales. The smoke started to clear up. Flick could now see the hazy Charmeleon in front of them. His tail was an odd, flickering beacon of orange-yellow light in the smoky cloud that still surrounded them. The Charmeleon switched to normal, shallower inhales once they were able to see more than a dark outline of each other.

The Charmeleon’s bright tail-tip flame danced in the haze, dimming just slightly as he spread his arms out in some sort of welcoming gesture. There was less anger in his eyes than Flick remembered. He almost—almost—appeared friendly.

The Charmeleon exhaled to calm himself, his tail flame turning to a simple red color. “Let’s try again. My name is Charcoal,” he offered, small flames curling out of the corners of his mouth as he spoke. “We were waitin’ for our fourth team member. When we saw you two stumblin’ out, we assumed y'all were her. We didn’t mean to startle ya.”

The Riolu stood tall where he'd righted himself, growling low in his throat. His reddish eyes were slits of hostility. He started moving towards them as the smoke cleared, his arms raised in an attack position.

“No, Riri,” Charcoal snapped, all that friendliness replaced with a hard, unyielding tone. He stopped the advancing Riolu by slapping his tail on the Riolu’s belly. “Friendly. Friends. No attack.”

The Riolu didn’t lower his arms, but he stopped his advance.

Charcoal sighed, fire escaping from his mouth, “Sorry ‘bout that. Rian here’s a tamed feral. Not really the forgivin’ type, ‘specially when it comes to attackers.” His eyes shone as he grinned, a fang flashing in his mouth.

Rian glared at them with his vacant gaze. Flick realized Rian had that dead-eyed stare that all prey had. There was a bit of a difference in his gaze—some sort of hint of intelligence—but Flick never really cared enough to stare into the eyes of something he was about to eat. As for whether the difference was significant, he couldn't be certain. Again, something faint tickled the back of Flick's mind.

“You two did some brilliant attacking, I have to admit,” he said. “I wasn’t expectin’ your speed. Riri here hadn’t either, obviously. I could feel his surprise when you retaliated and hit him with every shot.”

Flick’s attention started to slip as Charcoal talked on and on about how well Xanthos and he had fought. He already knew how powerful and quick they were, so it was not new to him. It felt nice to have someone gush over them, though, but he didn’t need to pay attention to the words to understand the compliments.

He instead—struggling a bit to focus—directed his attention to the Goomy, who had quietly gooped herself back into a solid mass at some point, wiggling her way closer to Charcoal and Rian. She was completely ignored but did not seem bothered by the lack of attention. If Charcoal had not mentioned Rian’s prey status, Flick would have assumed that she was the tamed Pokémon. She was incredibly pathetic and weak and used as the punching bag, just like the very few tamed ones Flick had seen in the desert. He wondered if she would taste as gross and mucus-y as she appeared.

Rian seemed quite strong and fast. It was no small feat to tame something as wild and savage as prey Pokémon, especially a powerful one. That’s why Flick never bothered to tame one of his own. If he was being honest with himself, he would have ended up eating whatever he tamed. It was a waste of time to create easy food when one could have the rush of a chase. Nothing could ever top the euphoric feel of a killing blow.

A small warbling noise behind Flick snapped him back to focusing on whatever Charcoal was rambling about. Thankfully, the noise made uncertainty flash in Charcoal’s eyes and stopped him in mid-sentence. Flick was relieved he didn’t need to listen to the Charmeleon’s slick, dreary words. Xanthos hadn’t left his shoulders during the whole ordeal, still frozen like a statue even at the noise of the mystery dungeon.

Charcoal and his crew moved back a few paces. Rian’s expression of vacant anger changed to one of empty terror. It looked like he would have bolted into the forest if Charcoal’s grip on his arm had been any weaker. Even if a prey Pokémon was tamed, that never stopped the mystery dungeons from snagging whatever they wanted. A prey Pokémon was always prey in its soul. Flick did not understand mystery dungeons completely. He decided it would be safer to back away, just in case.

Instead of the mystery dungeon dragging Rian into it—which everyone expected—a small Oddish popped out. She tripped on a nonexistent root and landed flat on her face. Using her prehensile weed-like leaves, she pushed herself up, rocked back onto her feet, and gazed up at everyone around her with wide eyes. She gave Flick and Xanthos a quick once-over before hastily waddling over towards the Goomy.

Charcoal intercepted the Oddish, swooping her up into an awkward hug. “Oddette! There you are,” he cooed, ignoring her wilting leaves. He put her down none too gently, and she scampered over to the Goomy. “This’s Oddette. We’re trainin’ her and Goewyn.” He paused, eyes furtively glancing over to the Vibrava as if he expected more questions about their… whatever he was talking about.

That didn’t pique Flick’s curiosity in the slightest. In fact, he was becoming fed up with Charcoal. The Charmeleon may have been strong, but he was incredibly dull. There was not a single interesting thing about him other than he had allegedly tamed a strong prey Pokémon. The Goomy was pathetic; the Oddish seemed like she was at the same low level. Flick—and Xanthos, probably—could take them all. They both had type advantages over all of them as well as the clear-cut intellect to act as a team.

He decided to try and leave on a polite note since they were still a little beat up from their tussle in the dungeon. “Okay, well, it was nice meeting—”

“You’re leavin’ already?” Charcoal interrupted, earning a frown from the Vibrava. “I’ve never seen a shiny Vibrava before. Can’t we just, y’know, travel for a bit together? So we can get to know ya? You seem incredibly strong. I want to learn from ya.” He paused as if he was waiting for something. “Please?”

The idea to shoot a blast of mud in the fire type’s face as a farewell gesture passed Flick’s mind; however, there was an odd influence in the ‘please' that caused him to hesitate. His mind guard dropped as he wrestled with his impulsiveness. The foreign touch brushed against his mind again. He recreated sturdier mental defenses and decided to give Charcoal and his crew the benefit of the doubt. Maybe this would turn out to be an interesting adventure, even if the Charmeleon was a bore.

“Okay…” he said slowly, carefully. Xanthos’ claws dug deeper into his back. Flick ignored him. “Okay,” he repeated. “Fine.” He hesitated, unsure of where he wanted to take this agreement. The pressure of the Natu’s little claws lessened, but not by much.

Charcoal started to run his mouth again, stopping Flick from saying anything even if he wanted to. A toothy, ingenuine grin blossomed on the fire type’s face, showing off his fangs, and he spread his arms wide in a vague welcoming gesture. If his claws had not flashed in the dappled light, it would have appeared sincere. “Brilliant! Where ya headed?”

Instead of jabbering on, Charcoal shut his mouth and waited, expectant. Flick was thrown off guard. Admittedly, they didn’t have an actual plan other than Xanthos’ visions, but that was something he wanted to keep a secret from the uninteresting, suspicious Charmeleon.

“Uh, we don’t… we don’t have a plan,” he said, offering a half-truth. Xanthos’ claws relaxed just slightly on his back, which gave him the idea that he said something correct.

Rian’s hand gently touched Charcoal’s arm. Something distrustful flashed in his eyes; if Flick had not been staring directly at him, he would have missed it.

Charcoal picked up Oddette, effectively ripping her from Goewyn’s mouth. The Goomy had been sucking on the Oddish’s leaves soothingly, acting as if they were a pacifier. A trail of spit-mucus hung from one of her leaves, but Oddette didn’t seem to mind. In fact, her eyes were unfocused as if her head was a bit fuzzy. Flick didn’t know much about the workings of other Pokémon, but this Oddish seemed a bit malnourished. He wondered if she ate like the rest of them—berries or prey.

“We’re goin’ towards this brilliant forest that’s past this mountain,” the Charmeleon said, tearing Flick from his thoughts. “It’s supposed to have all the fruits you could eat. Apples, oran berries—you name it, it has it. The problem is, the easiest and most straightforward path is using that mountain. Riri and I are strong and could take the dungeon, but we can’t fight and watch Oddette’s and Goewyn’s backs at the same time. They’re pretty weak. We could easily be killed if we have to look out for ourselves and those two. Oddette could prolly hold her own long enough to get help, but Goewyn would be wiped out in an instant. I’m not even sure why she was placed on my team, since she’s so weak.

“Anyway, as I was saying, we need to go through the mountain dungeon,” he continued, beginning to pace. “Y’all could help us out and get a pick of whatever y’all want of the forest. There’s a dungeon surroundin’ the pickin’s of the forest, though, so we’d need y’alls help with that, too. Then y’all could get whatever you wanted, and we could split up from there and go our own ways.”

That was the first time Charcoal mentioned that Xanthos even existed, albeit mostly indirectly. The Natu had not moved a muscle from Flick’s back since he had landed there, nor had he offered anything helpful to their conversion. Even during Charcoal’s lengthy speech, the little bird stayed frozen. Flick felt that if he turned his head to stare at Xanthos and broke eye contact with Charcoal, something bad would happen. He fought against the instinct to look back and read Xanthos’ probably-blank expression.

He snapped back into reality when he realized the Charmeleon had fallen silent and stopped pacing, looking at him eagerly. Flick needed to get a handle on zoning out. It wasn’t like him.

Flick swished his tail as he considered his options. He had already chosen to go with them, but he felt like he needed to pretend to think about it. Rian quickly and quietly touched Charcoal’s arm again.

“We’ll go,” Flick said swiftly, trying not to eye the Riolu’s movements suspiciously. “We’ll go,” he repeated firmly at Charcoal’s raised brow. “We’ll help you get through the dungeons.” Something tickled the back of his mind again, and he almost lost his next thought. “But, we get to have a pick of whatever we want in that forest once we get there.”

The Charmeleon gave him a nod. “Sounds fair. Are we ready to go, fellas?” he asked, looking at Rian and giving a half-glance over Goewyn. “What’re your names? I never caught them. Let’s redo this. I’m Charcoal, this is Rian, Oddette, and Goewyn.” He pointed to everyone in turn as he repeated names.

Flick hesitated. “I’m… I’m Flick,” he spoke quietly. He stopped and waited for Xanthos to introduce himself. When a few heartbeats of silence passed, Flick sighed, “This is X-man.”

Xanthos’ teeny claws dug lightly into Flick’s back. “Xanthos,” the Natu corrected in a strong chirp.

A ghost of a smile flitted across the Vibrava’s face at the instant reaction from his partner.

Charcoal snorted, his arrogance reappearing. “So you can talk, Natu,” he sneered. “I was wonderin’ when we would hear your voice. I never liked flying types.”

Flick wondered if Charcoal knew he would evolve into a half flying type. Xanthos’ claws curled deeper into Flick’s back. He decided to keep his mouth shut.

Switching his attention to the Vibrava, Charcoal’s arrogance evaporated. “Ready to head out? Is there anythin’ we need to wait for?”

Flick wondered if the ‘we’ meant just Charcoal and Rian, or included Oddette and Goewyn. “We are ready,” he said, putting emphasis on the fact he included both himself and Xanthos. “Lead the way.”

Charcoal smiled. It was not a kind smile or one of excitement—it dripped with malicious intent. Flick stared for a bit too long at the malevolently-grinning Charmeleon, unsure on how to take his expression. Something itched at the back of his mind. He blinked, and whatever malice Charcoal had in his expression disappeared, leaving a normal, cheerful smile.

The Vibrava was confused. There was something weird in the air, but he couldn’t put a leg or a thought on it. Whatever it was, it affected him psychologically, he knew that much. Every time he thought about how distant the world unexpectedly felt, it slipped from his mental grasp like sand, leaving him in a vague, muddled state of doubt. Flick hoped that Xanthos had a clearer head than he did.

Charcoal and Rian turned away from the dungeon and began to head into the forest, following a faintly-shaped path; the Riolu had to walk behind the Charmeleon as the pathway was only big enough for the Pokémon to walk in a single-file line. Oddette was still clutched in the Charmeleon’s arms. Goewyn deflated a bit as she followed a bit behind the three. Flick fell in line behind the Goomy, taking care not to touch the slimy trail she left as she wormed along. He needed to walk in a wider stance to avoid the slime. Xanthos, a bit twitchy now there was no attention on him, stayed on his back.

No one said a word as they journeyed. The air was heavy with some sort of tension and awkwardness. At one point, Charcoal casually relaxed his arms and Oddette tumbled onto the ground ungracefully. Both Pokémon at the front continued without slowing their pace as Oddette picked herself up. Goewyn hesitated when she neared the Oddish. Oddette gave her a look that Flick couldn’t read, and the Goomy kept her pace normal. The Oddish, once on her feet, had to skip a little bit to walk directly behind Goewyn. Flick wasn’t sure what to think about that.

The trees thinned a bit as the path began to widen, and now everyone could walk next to each other comfortably on the well-worn path. However, everyone simply walked in pairs: Charcoal and Rian, Oddette and Goewyn. The Natu stayed on Flick's back, and the Vibrava didn’t change his pace, staying towards the back of the group.

The forest became shadowy as the sun dipped in the sky, long shadows stretching across everyone’s features. Oddette suddenly found a burst of speed, ducked slightly to the side of the path, dug a hole about the size of her body, and plopped herself into it.

Flick heard Charcoal grumble breathily, halting. "Guess we’ll stop here and camp,” he announced, sitting against a tree and stretching out his feet. “Rian, you know what to do." The Charmeleon held his tail close to his belly, keeping the flame away from anything flammable.

Rian darted off into the darkening forest, seemingly unexhausted. Goewyn settled herself beside the planted Oddish. Flick chose a tree far enough away that he was obviously not a part of their little group but close enough that he would be able to overhear most conversations. Not that this group seemed buddy-buddy in that way. The Vibrava felt Xanthos hop off of him, and he glanced up to see the Natu perched on the lowest branch above him.

The shadows lengthened and deepened; the blue sky transformed into red and pink, outlining the white clouds in splashes of pale color. Rian rushed into view with a handful of differently-sized branches, depositing them roughly in the center of the group before dipping back into the dark forest. Charcoal set the bundle ablaze with his tail and laid down next to the fire, propping up himself with an elbow and leaning his head on his hand. He neatly curled his tail around his legs with the flame tip towards the fire, and there he sat, quiet at last, staring into the flames as the light reflected eerily in his eyes.

Goewyn was sucking on Oddette’s leaves like a pacifier yet again. Flick wondered silently for the umpteenth time today whether the Goomy was a tamed prey Pokémon. It was an insult to ask if one was once prey, so he kept his mouth shut. He didn’t respect these Pokémon, but he definitely wasn’t going to lose whatever respect they had for him by asking a completely inappropriate question. He had a feeling Charcoal wouldn’t care, though.

Rian appeared again with a handful of berries. He dropped a few in front of Goewyn, rolled a few towards Flick and Xanthos, deposited the rest near the fire, then disappeared back into the forest. He appeared moments later, clutching three Morelull in one arm and dragging a small Sudowoodo behind him with the other. Charcoal perked up at the sight of the Morelull, pushing himself to his feet. He grabbed a half-lit stick, licked the fire off, and stabbed the three prey Pokémon before holding them over the flames to roast them. Rian dragged the Sudowoodo closer to the fire before swiftly cracking it in half with brute strength.

Instead of deliciousness squirting out, sap leaked from the broken rock Pokémon. There was nothing inside of it that resembled anything edible. It leaked some sort of dark, thick, golden brown fluid from the cracks the Riolu had made, but it was otherwise completely rock-solid. The Riolu paused and touched the insides of the Sudowoodo. The rocky-looking innards squelched at his touch but resisted most of his attempt to see if it was gooey and edible. Based on what Flick could see from his vantage point, it seemed to just be some sort of hard, spongy texture inside.

He glanced up at Xanthos. The Natu stared blankly in the direction of the fire. Flick couldn’t recall the last time his companion had blinked since they had crossed paths with this group.

Charcoal, slurping up the roasted Morelull in one bite, ordered Rian to dispose of the inedible Sudowoodo body and bring back something else. He picked his teeth with the empty skewer as his tamed prey dragged the snapped, oozing body back into the forest, never bothering to ask if anyone else wanted some of the Morelull. Flick could not eat fairy types prey, being sensitive to fairy-type prey as a half-dragon type. Even as he watched the Charmeleon slurp glistening innards from his claws, Flick didn't care that he wasn't offered a piece.

The Riolu came back with two Cherubis and a Bounsweet just as dusk was turning into night. Flick slithered out of his makeshift sandy dirt nest and grabbed a Cherubi before Charcoal could claim one to cook or eat. He brought it back over to the berry pile, faintly surprised to only see two different pink berries and one green berry left. Soft beak-chewing noises from above told him that Xanthos had climbed down to grab whatever he wanted to eat. Flick quickly swallowed the three berries before he melted down the Cherubi, chowing down on the mouthwateringly juicy prey. The Cherubi tasted like warm and sweet berries with a gooey, prey texture, and Flick found that a delightful combination.

He curled back up in his densely sandy nest. He did miss the comfort of moon-cooled desert sand. Before he allowed himself to doze off, he surveyed the group one last time. Charcoal had laid down completely and stuck his tail flame directly in the middle of the little fire, apparently ready to keep it going all night. Goewyn was drooling as she slowly melted into a sleepy pile next to Oddette. The Oddish had dug her whole body except her feet free from the ground. She was staring up at the faintly starry sky, unmoving. Rian was sitting against a tree near Charcoal, arms crossed and eyes shut tight. He appeared too tense to be anywhere near unconsciousness.

Flick couldn’t make heads or tails of this group. They didn’t seem friendly to each other in the slightest, so he wasn’t sure what kept them together. Charcoal was the leader, and they all obeyed him, but their compliance was not out of loyalty or friendship. Rian was the only one who seemed like he obeyed Charcoal out of respect, but he was tamed. Tamed prey Pokémon needed to bond with someone else, or they would risk slipping into their savage prey mindset again. He was a completely different situation from the rest.

The Vibrava opened his maw in a yawn and rested his head on a root. He would think more about the group dynamics tomorrow. His head felt clearer now than it had been earlier today, but he was exhausted. He wasn’t used to keeping up his mental defenses for so long. He closed his eyes, praying to the stars that he would not be attacked in his sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Beta-ed by Oldflowers.](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oldflowers)


End file.
